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Clive Oppenheimer, volcanologist

Clive Oppenheimer, volcanologist and film-maker, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item he would take with him if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.

Clive Oppenheimer is a volcanologist, filmmaker and Professor of Volcanology at the University of Cambridge. His research has taken him on expeditions across the world, from Antarctica, where he discovered the camp of Captain Scott鈥檚 attempt to reach the South Pole, to Ethiopia where he was held at gunpoint by rebels.

Clive was born in London, and fell in love with rocks and the stories they tell on visits to what is now the Natural History Museum. His mother survived the Blitz in London and his father escaped persecution by the Nazis in Germany in the 1930s. On a gap year trip to Indonesia, Clive saw his first volcanoes and realised both their natural power and their significance in human lives. He studied at the University of Cambridge, and completed a PhD at the Open University.

He has taken part in and led expeditions to volcanoes all over the world, including Indonesia, Italy and Ethiopia. He is one of few Westerners to have worked in North Korea, where he was invited by the government to study volcanic activity at the culturally significant Mount Baekdu.

He has also made three documentaries with filmmaker Werner Herzog about volcanoes and their scientific, cultural and spiritual significance.

DISC ONE: Blue Rondo a la Turk - Dave Brubeck Quartet
DISC TWO: Love Hangover - Diana Ross
DISC THREE: Autobahn - Kraftwerk
DISC FOUR: Lava - The B-52's
DISC FIVE: Debaser - Pixies
DISC SIX: Turangal卯la-symphonie, Part VI Jardin du sommeil d鈥檃mour. Composed by Olivier Messiaen and performed by the Orchestre de l鈥橭p茅ra Bastille, cond Myung-Whun Chung, with Yvonne Loriod (piano) and Jeanne Loriod (ondes martenot)
DISC SEVEN: T鈥檢eta - Bezawork Asfew
DISC EIGHT: Hymn for the Dormition of the Mother of God - The Sixteen and Harry Christophers

BOOK CHOICE: The Vivisector by Patrick White
LUXURY ITEM: A seismometer
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Debaser 鈥 Pixies

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producers Sarah Taylor and Tim Bano

Available now

38 minutes

Last on

Fri 23 Feb 2024 09:00

Music Played

  • The Dave Brubeck Quartet

    Blue Rondo a la Turk

    • Time Out.
    • Columbia.
    • 1.
  • Diana Ross

    Love Hangover

    • Diana Ross.
    • Motown.
    • 3.
  • Kraftwerk

    Autobahn

    • Parlophone UK.
  • The B鈥52s

    Lava

    • The B-52's.
    • Island Records.
    • 5.
  • Pixies

    Debaser

    • Doolittle.
    • 4AD Ltd.
    • 1.
  • Olivier Messiaen

    Turangal卯la-symphonie, Part VI Jardin du sommeil d'amour

    Performer: Yvonne Loriod. Orchestra: Bastille Opera Orchestra. Conductor: Myung-Whun Chung. Ensemble: Jeanne Loriod.
    • Messiaen - Turangal卯la-Symphonie.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 6.
  • Bezawork Asfew

    T'zeta

    • Under African Skies: From The 麻豆社 TV Series.
    • 麻豆社 Enterprises.
    • 11.
  • The Sixteen and Harry Christophers

    Hymn for the Dormition of the Mother of God

    • Ikon of Light.
    • Coro.
    • 2.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 18 Feb 2024 11:15
  • Fri 23 Feb 2024 09:00

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